


Elderflower Macarons on Candlenights Eve

by CatKing_Catkin



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Candlenights, Christmas Fluff, Cooking, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Ducks, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Holidays, Psychological Trauma, Set before The Crystal Kingdom, Spoilers for Episode: e041-049 The Eleventh Hour Parts 1-9, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2019-01-09 17:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12281157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatKing_Catkin/pseuds/CatKing_Catkin
Summary: “’Twas the night before Candlenights, and all through the dorm…”“Three idiots had completely lost track of time and were left scrambling to finish their stupid gifts for their stupid friends.”Magnus, Merle, and Taako are doing their last minute Candlenights prep before the party the next day. For Taako, this involves his first serious stab at cooking in years, the first time since Glamor Springs. Merle and Magnus don't entirely understand what's going on in their quest to acquire free samples. But it doesn't take the world's greatest detective to figure out that their good buddy is stressed by something, and they want to help.In the end, they actually do help Taako relax a little, and even score some macarons for their troubles. Candlenights really is a time for miracles.Taako finds himself with a lot to think about, and it's not even all bad stuff anymore. That's quite possibly the biggest miracle of them all.





	Elderflower Macarons on Candlenights Eve

“’Twas the night before Candlenights, and all through the dorm…”

“Three idiots had completely lost track of time and were left scrambling to finish their stupid gifts for their stupid friends.”

“ _Two_ idiots. Speak for yourselves – I’ve got tomorrow on lock.”

Taako glowered fixedly at Merle for several long seconds, until the dwarf went back to his book. He did not quite have his gifts on lock. The associated Pan Tracts and Trick Tracts stacked beside him still needed to be wrapped. But it was clear that he was relishing being at the finish line when Taako was still mixing up the filling for his cookies and Magnus had only finished one statuette.

Magnus seemed obnoxiously unbothered by this, however. He just sat in his armchair with his feet propped up on a crate, his little knife moving dexterously over a hunk of rosewood. The idiot was actually humming faintly.

Curiosity got the better of Taako. Besides, it was late and he was tired. Much longer of this and he wouldn’t even get his requisite four hours of trancing, and nodding off over his cooking would be…bad. “Whatcha makin’, big guy?” he asked.

“Statue of Johann,” Magnus answered, without looking up.

“Why’s that?”

“Didn’t know what else he likes. Thought about carving him a violin, but he’s already got like three. Besides, the dude’s already so obsessed with forgetting. Well, here’s his own face he can look at whenever.”

“Cool, cool.” Taako nodded his understanding and grudging approval, grateful that Magnus wasn’t looking up to see it. “Is that rosewood?”

“Yep.”

“Where the heck did you get rosewood up here?”

“From one of Johann’s violins.”

Silence fell over the rooms for about three seconds.

“Is that what you’re gonna tell him tomorrow?”

Magnus snickered, before brushing some wood shavings off his lap. “Yep. What’s a Candlenights without a few good laughs between friends?”

“I dunno, but something tells me we’ll find out tomorrow.”

Finally, it was time to add the food coloring and extract. Taako checked to make sure he had the right bottle of food coloring and then carefully measured out four drops, the better to get the delicate ivory color of the elderflower to shine through. Then he checked to make sure he had the right bottle of extract, measured out a cup, checked the bottle again, and then poured the extract into the bowl. After that, it was back to folding the batter. God, his arms were starting to get as tired as the rest of him.

“Where the actual heck did you get rosewood up here?”

“Slipped Avi about ten g’s so he’d have a word with the supply drop guys.”

“Huh. That’s a thing?”

“That is apparently a thing.”

“Because I’ve been out of lemon myrtle for like three weeks and it’s driving me batshit.”

“I’ll put in a good word for you next week.”

“Thanks, dude.”

There. That should be the filling about done. Taako went to check on the cookies and found that they’d solidified enough to go in the oven. He set it to preheat, already thinking longingly of his bed. He knew that if he actually sat down in one of the open chairs in the living room, that would be the end of it. Instead, he sat on the floor of the kitchen instead, and even then he found himself stifling a yawn as his hands stopped moving.

He saw that Merle had finally started wrapping gifts. He also saw Merle stifling a laugh.

“What’s so funny, preacher man?” Taako asked suspiciously.

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” the cleric answered innocently. “Just wondering if the little baby elf needs to be put down for his nap.”

“Probably not as much as the creaky old man does! Come to think of it, why the hell are you even still out here, taking up space and watching us suffer?”

“Who’s suffering?” asked Magnus, looking up at the two of them in innocent, thickheaded puzzlement. “I thought we were all having a wonderful evening together.”

“‘Evening’ nothing! It is two in the goddamn morning!”

Magnus shrugged. “Time flies when you’re having fun?”

“I, for one, was enjoying a moment of quiet just spending time with my two close friends and teammates, comfortable in your company,” Merle added loftily.

“You’re waiting for your chance to steal a cookie,” Taako shot back.

“As it happens, I do not see how those two very true ideas are mutually exclusive.”

“But seriously, Taako,” Magnus added hastily. “If you wanna go to bed, Merle and I can finish your cookies. Finish making them, I mean. Not eating them.”

“I pretty much one hundred percent doubt that.”

“Oh come on, Taako,” Merle scoffed. “Even the two of us can follow a recipe.”

“Probably,” added Magnus.

“Even if I believed that, which I absolutely do not, I’m one hundred percent certain that if I left you idiots in charge I wouldn’t even _have_ cookies in the morning.”

Magnus gasped, pressing a hand against his chest as though grievously wounded. "We would never do that! We'd just take one each. And you were gonna give us both one anyway, right?"

"Nuh-uh."

"But what about taste testing!" Merle protested. "That's the most important part of baking anything!"

Taako snorted, waving a hand dismissively. "Who do you think you're talking to? I don't need that shit. I'm _Taako_ , from TV. I know what I'm doing."

Merle and Magnus exchanged a look. It was a look about three seconds too long for Taako's liking. It was a planning sort of look, and he had a feeling it was the last thing a few of their enemies had ever seen.

"Besides," Taako added hastily. "They're not even done yet. So you'd have to keep your hands to yourself anyway."

"Oh," Magnus said, nodding as comprehension dawned. "Yeah, I guess that'd also be a problem."

"Great," Merle grumbled. "Now what am I supposed to do? Finish _decorating_?"

"You want me to go get your stepladder?" Magnus asked. He settled back into his armchair and picked up a small block of cedar.

"Nah, I got it. You just keep playing with your wood."

For aboug half an hour, things were quiet and normal again. Magnus hummed as he carved a matching wooden duck, Merle grumbled as he dragged the stepladder along the dormitory walls so he could finish nailing up the lights, and Taako stared fixedly at the oven door. A watched cookie might never finish baking, but nothing unexpected to it could happen either.

At last, the oven door gave a "ding". Taako pulled his cookies out carefully, set them on a rack to cool, and then set to work fluffing up his filling again from where it had settled.

"You ever thought about, like, using your ring of frost to cool those bad boys down any faster?" asked Magnus.

"Nope," Taako answered, without hesitation.

"Not even just now?"

"Nope."

"Well...why not?"

"Because magic and cooking do not mix, my man."

"Oh. Huh. Guess I learned something new today."

"Savor it, _bubela_."

But finally there was no pretending that the cookies weren't cooled completely. If he waited much longer, they'd start to lose that delicate _crunch_ that was so crucial to a good macaroon. Taako carefully broke a sliver off one, popped it in his mouth, and found the taste good and not-obviously-poisonous. He repeated the experiment with the filling, to the same results. Finally, it was time to bring one in conjunction with the other.

This was the most important part. Much as his shoulders ached, Taako turned his full and complete attention to the task. It was a delicate art, filling macaroons, one that would brook no hesitation or failure. Yet it was also immeasurably satisfying work, this last step, and the feeling of finally bringing cookies and filling into their full and perfect harmony was one of the best feelings in the world.

He was so absorbed in his task that he didn't realize Merle and Magnus had sneaked up on him until Magnus spoke up from right behind him.

"So they're done now, right?"

Taako made perhaps the most undignified noise of his life, before whirling around to face his two traitorous teammates. They were _right there_ , right behind him, and wearing matching evil smiles.

For lack of any other avenue of escape, he threw his arms out between them and the cookie tray like a mother trying to protect her children from rampaging bugbears.

"Nope!" he stammered. "Not done yet! I've still gotta, uh...do the thing, and then add the other thing, and..."

Merle and Magnus exchanged another look. And then they pounced, also like hungry bugbears. Taako made what was _definitely_ the most undignified sound of his life as he found himself picked up bodily off the ground by Magnus, arms pinned at his sides, feet kicking uselessly.

"Put me _down_ , you asshole! I have spell slots and I am not afraid to use them on you! I will turn you into a goddamn cookie and feed you to my goddamn umbrella! Is that what you want? Is that where we're at?"

He looked around for his umbrella, which was still sitting in a corner of the kitchen where he'd left it. Taako flexed his fingers towards it, trying to will it closer as he had so many times before when the situation looked dire. This time, however, his stupid staff stayed right where it was against the stupid wall. Somehow it almost seemed to be laughing at him.

Merle, meanwhile, made an exaggerated show of examining the tray of helpless macaroons. He finally selected one, popped it into his mouth, and crunched it with every sign of appreciation. Taako made a pained sound, going limp in Magnus' grip. Merle, meanwhile, let out a definitely appreciative sound. "Mmmm...Taako, these are so good!" he declared around a mouthful of elderflower.

"I'm open!" Magnus cried, before opening his mouth wide. Merle tossed him a cookie, and Taako felt himself jerked to the side as Magnus moved with lightning speed to catch it in his mouth. Taako winced at the sound of chewing and swallowing. He cringed in Magnus' grip as the fighter made an equally blissed-out sort of noise and then talked with his mouth full. "Man, Taako, why were you holdin' out on us?"

 _It's a long story_ , Taako absolutely did not say, because no matter how long the story was he was never going to tell it. Still, he'd replayed the events of it over and over in his head enough times to know about how long he'd have to wait before he could be sure one way or another if things were going to go bad. If nothing happened within ten minutes, they'd all be okay.

Magnus let him go. Merle offered him one of his own cookies. Taako took it and ate it in four small bites like a normal person who hadn't been raised in a barn. He had to admit, this was some of his best work. If there was any cookie worth dying for, it was this one.

Once he was done eating and actually _savoring_ his own hard work, Taako picked up the tray of remaining cookies and turned sharply on his heel towards the kitchen doorway. "Well now that _my_ Candlenights gift for everyone is all done, I'm going to bed. And I'm keeping _these_ in my room for safekeeping from you two heathens."

He felt Magnus and Merle's eyes on his back as he retreated. He heard them following at a safe distance, all the way to his bedroom door. It wasn't until Taako had stepped safely inside, however, that Magnus dared to speak up.

"Uh...Taako? Are you feeling okay? It's just that you seem like you've been kind of tense all night, and we thought we could help, but..."

Taako set the tray down on his bedside table hard enough to make it shake. Then he whirled around to face his two friends, both standing in the doorway, both gaping gormlessly at him, both with undeniable concern in their eyes.

"The only thing that's making me tense is how quick you idiots are to take candy from strangers! I thought this was basic shit people knew not to do! _Angus_ could probably tell not to do that. Hell, _Klarg_ probably still knows better than that, and bonus - at least he actually knows how to treat a good cookie!"

"But you're not a stranger," Magnus pointed out, still smiling with innocent bemusement. "You're our friend. I mean, three Grand Relics and counting, right? We've come a long way."

"Oh yeah?" Taako folded his arms and fixed them both with a pointed, unflinching stare. "What's my last name?"

Both his companions opened their mouths to answer, and then fell silent. Magnus stared at the ceiling, Merle stared at the floor, and Taako could practically see the rusty gears turning in their heads as they mulled this over.

Magnus rushed in to answer first. "Your last name is...Taco!"

"That is literally my first name pronounced slightly differently. Do you honestly think my name is Taako Taco?"

Magnus shrugged. "I didn't wanna assume how elves did names."

"Your last name is Tostada!" Merle said, folding his arms smugly.

"That is...actually, that is my grandpa's name." Taako tilted his head to stare at Merle in genuine shock. "Did I ever tell you my grandpa's name?"

"I overheard you muttering to yourself once about how Grandpa Tostada would rue the day. It was while you were writing in your spellbook." Merle shrugged. "Thought it might have been a family name."

"It isn't, but you know, that shows a lot of attention to detail on your part. I am mostly flattered and only a little creeped out. Thank you, Merle."

Merle offered him a thumbs up. Taako sighed and felt a rare surge of pity welling up in his chest.

"Okay, so for what it's worth, I don't actually _have_ a last name," he admitted. "But the point is that you didn't know that! There's a lot you don't know about me. Heck, there's a lot I don't know about you! So you shouldn't trust me to make food for you!"'

"What don't you know about me?" Magnus asked. He started ticking things off on his fingers. "I've secretly always wanted to be blonde, I wonder late at night if Stephen wishes Merle was his dad instead, sometimes I skip leg day because I'm just not feeling it, I'm afraid of spiders..."

Merle started listing off secrets, too. "Stephen _definitely_ wishes I was his dad instead, sometimes I wonder if studying the warhammer was a waste of time, I have a recurring dream about being naked at school, and my ultimate goal one day is to seduce..."

 Taako and Magnus both clapped their hands over their ears. It didn't make a difference.

"I think we need to lay down some ground rules for future sharing sessions," Magnus said hastily, when the dwarf seemed to be done. "Just. Something to think about."

"Thank you, Merle," Taako added hastily. "You've solved my sleep deprivation complaints by ensuring that I will never sleep again."

They both cautiously lowered their hands from their ears. Merle nodded magnanimously, an irreverent gleam in his eyes. "You are most welcome, Taako."

“But seriously, Taako,” said Magnus, getting back to the matter at hand now that the danger had apparently passed. “You’ve seemed pretty super stressed all night. Merle and I just wanted to try and take your mind off things.”

“I mean, we also wanted cookies, but that was part of it, too,” Merle agreed.

Taako folded his arms and scoffed, looking away from both of them. In the back of his mind, he wondered how many minutes it had been. More than five? Some had already been dead at the five minute mark, last time. “By dogpiling and manhandling me? Sure. That was pretty distracting, you dinguses.”

“Happy to help!” said Merle, reaching up to pat Taako on the elbow. “I don’t know how they do Candlenights where you come from, but it’s not a time to stress!”

Taako jerked a thumb at the wrapped pile of Pan Tracts. “Yeah, you made that part pretty obvious.”

“I mean, no one’s going to read those shitty comics, but Merle does kind of have a point,” Magnus said. Taako flinched a little when the burly human squeezed his shoulder. Even now, sudden contact past a certain level of familiarity was still unexpected, and…strange. “Candlenights is supposed to be a time for focusing on the people and the things you love. If cooking really stresses you out that much, why are you doing it?”

“Besides the fact that you’re not half bad at it,” Merle added, giving a thumbs up.

Taako deflated. Because that was the heart of the matter, wasn’t it? These two chuckleheads had cut right to it, and with the two of them staring at him with such concern he suddenly realized he was too tired to pretend otherwise.

“Cooking didn’t used to stress me out,” he mumbled, folding his arms tightly across his chest and staring at his feet. Again, he felt that strange swooping lurch in his stomach when Magnus put a hand on his back and Merle patted his hand, but in a way that helped him carry on. “It used to be my favorite thing. It used to be…the only thing. But then some bad shit happened, and now it stresses me out.”

There. The words were out and spoken, as though he’d just vomited up poison before it could eat him alive from the inside out. Taako drew himself back up a little and mustered up a scowl, though he knew it was a shadow of its usual grand force. “There! That’s my sob story. Are you two happy?”

“Yep,” said Magnus without hesitation, and he beamed. “Thanks for telling us, Taako. We’ll try not to bug you so much next time. Or at least come up with a more effective way of bugging you.”

“I’m not gonna say thank you, but I will accept that I can’t stop you.”

“And hey, anytime you need someone to taste test your work and tell you how great it is, we’ll be around for that, too,” said Merle.

“I reiterate my previous statement.”

Actually, Taako’s plan had been to psyche himself up by trying to cook for people he didn’t especially give a damn about first. Right now, that still extended to most of the Bureau. He’d meant to pass them out tomorrow and make sure everyone was still alive by the time he got to these two.

But it turned out that Merle and Magnus didn’t always need his help to go around fucking up the best laid plans.

Either way, it had to have been enough time now, and they were okay, and hopefully it wasn’t just the fact that they were two hardy dudes. Taako let out a sigh of relief that he tried to disguise as one of exasperation.

“Anyway, can we be done with the touchy-feely holiday bullshit right now? Don’t know if you both have realized, but it is super late and I am super beat and the holidays are no excuse to skimp on the ol’ beauty sleep.”

“Sure thing, Taako,” said Merle.

“We’ll finish putting up the decorations. You can count on us,” added Magnus.

Taako was about to argue that point, too. Then the thought occurred to him that by now, he’d trusted the two of them with more important stuff than this. Besides, he really was very tired.

“Have fun with that, pals o’ mine,” Taako said instead. He brushed past them to return to the kitchen, where he retrieved his traitorous umbrella. Then he brushed past them both again to head to his room. All of a sudden, he felt too tired to even bother lifting his hand. So Taako didn't bother - with a flick of his mind, he conjured up a Mage Hand to do it for him. “G’night.”

“Good night, Taako!” Magnus called, as he and Merle headed back into living room. “Happy Candlenights!”

“Right back at’cha.”

Taako didn’t go to bed right away, however. He sat on his bed, staring at the tray of macarons resting safely on his bedside table. His umbrella was resting across his lap. It felt warm, and vibrated faintly with the echoes of power, like the friendliest cat to never exist.

After what might have been minutes but hopefully wasn’t hours, Taako reached out, picked up another cookie, and took a tiny nibble out of it.

It really was very good, if he did say so himself. If there was any taste worth dying for, it was this one. He was very glad that the two people who had made him remember how to give a damn wouldn’t have to.

 


End file.
